Title: Road-Tripped
Author: Nicole Archer
Series: Ad Agency #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: August 1st, 2016
Source: E-book gifted from author for fair review
My rating: 5 stars
I am so grateful to this author for sending me a copy of her book to read. When I picked this one to start reading I had no idea just how funny it was going to be. The humor in it reminds me a lot of the books in the Hudson Valley series by Alice Clayton. Both books have things that happen that are just so realistic! Things that are real and very embarrassing. However, Road-Tripped takes the embarrassing moments and pushes them one step further, not in an unrealistic way, but in a way that you know someone out there has had a similar experience, and it is almost so horrible that it is unbelievable. And while I have never had these specific mortifying experiences, I have had some that have been pretty comparable when I think about the empathy created for the characters as I read about what was happening to them.
The characters themselves were also very believable. And the misunderstandings and preconceptions each of them had about each other that led to many of the humorous moments I hinted at above were again very realistic. They're the kinds of things I know that I have probably thought about people from what I've heard or seen of them before I ever get a chance to meet them and get to know them. Okay, let me give you a little run-down of the story itself, then I'll gush over it a little more.
There are two main characters and we get the story from both of their viewpoints. Callie is working a new job for a friend, who helped her out when her life kind of went down the toilet. Only she isn't really as grateful for it as you'd think. She can't stand most of the people she works with, especially given the way the office is run. And from people like my sister who actually work in a place where they do things like game tables and parties, I know that the environment is realistic. Callie is grumpy, likes to swear, and cannot stand the guy that she thinks is nothing but the office manwhore, the guy that all the women want so sleep with, including the woman who is kind of her worst enemy in the office.
The other main character is Walker, said "manwhore" according to Callie. Sure, he's friendly, and very attractive, and all that, but he's also very unhappy in his job as art director. He loves photography, and really wants to do something more like that. He has been assigned to drive across country in an RV that is one of their current client's product. At first he is going to get to go with a friend of his in the office. But she drops out at the last minute, and their boss chooses Callie, the one woman who seems to be completely immune to his charms, as well as seems to hate him, to be the replacement.
As you can guess, the road trip is full of many fun experiences. They stop at a lot of famous landmarks, as well as dropping in on family and friends along the way. The end up camping at a nudist colony by accident. They get caught in a hurricane. And Callie might get a little high with Walker's grandmother, when they stop by for a visit. Both of them will learn that the other is not quite who they think they are from their first impressions. Both of them will have to work on the attraction between them, they may even give into it, and of course that will create its own issues for the trip. As well as many, many hilarious moments and some very sexy ones as well!
This was one of those books that I had to be careful about reading in public, because it literally made me laugh out loud. Not just a quiet chuckle, or a giggle, but gut-busting, can't hold it in guffaws at times! And you know what was bad? I was reading it on my laptop, at work sometimes, and oh my gosh was it so hard to hold that in! So hard that I couldn't. I got some strange looks the days I read it at work, I work in a high school library, so yeah.
The cussing, while quite prevalent throughout the whole book, was also part of the hilariousness of the book. It was so over the top at times, but that just made it all the more hilarious. Have I used the word hilarious enough in this review? Walker wasn't much of a cusser, and so several times he would almost say shit, but he'd stop himself, and change it to poo, so it was like he said sh..poo. And Callie called him on it every time, asking him if he said shampoo. She got a kick out of it, and so did I as I read it.
And I have to pull out the one thing that was so funny, although I'm sure is probably considered kind of offensive, but it is funny because it's true, because I've actually seen something exactly like it at a Chinese restaurant. On the menu, for drinks, it said: "Classic Cock, Cock Zero, Diet Cock, Cherry Cock." I've seen that before. And it makes me laugh like a middle schooler every single time!
If you aren't offended by a lot of swear words, or sexy scenes, or hilarious naked embarrassing scenes, then this is the next book you need to read. You can get the e-book on Amazon for only $2.99 HERE. If I could order the paperback through the Barnes and Noble store where I work, I would own a physical copy of the book. Instead I will just stick with my Kindle copy, which as I went back to try to find some of the exact things I wanted to talk about, I found myself re-reading so many parts that I loved.
